NASCAR takes a different kind of left turn?

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 16: Michael Waltrip, driver of the #26 Sandy Hook School Support Fund Toyota, during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2013 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Michael Waltrip will be the sentimental favorite in Sunday’s running of the Daytona 500 for Connecticut.

The two-time winner of the “Great American Race” will be driving the No. 26 car as a tribute to the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, 20 of them children ages 7 and under.

Waltrip’s green and white Toyota Camry is emblazoned with a memorial ribbon on the hood the word NEWTOWN on the quarter panel.

This brings up an intriguing juxtaposition, as NASCAR’s fan base is often lumped in with Second Amendment groups such as the National Rifle Association.

That’s not lost on the Agenda Project, a New York City-based political nonprofit organization that leans left.

“The overlap between NASCAR fans, the NRA, and the Republican Party is obvious,” Erica Payne, the group’s founder, wrote Thursday in an e-newsletter.

Payne commended Waltrip for donating $50,000 through his racing company to the help the victims of the tragedy, but seeks to apply a litmus test that is on the minds of many Americans.

“So far both Waltrip and his sponsors have been silent on the issue of gun control reform, as well as specific legislation that could help prevent mass shootings like Newtown: universal background checks, closing the gun show loop hole, and a ban on assault weapons,” Payne wrote.

And how’s this for coincidence?

Last year, the No. 26 car was sponsored by then GOP presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who Payne pointed out received an A+ grade from the NRA for his positions on gun legislation.